Crystal Palace vs Stoke preview: Wayne Hennessey under pressure

A look ahead to this weekend's FA Cup clash at Selhurst Park

(2015 AMA Sports Photo Agency)

It’s a big game for…
Wayne Hennessey: The Welsh international has had a superb season so far. Recently, however, he has made a few mistakes which have proved costly- notably against Man City and Aston Villa. Such has been the severity of his errors, that it has led Alan Pardew to question his place in the starting line-up. With Julian Speroni on the bench, Hennessey’s place in the team is under threat, he will need to return to the form he showed earlier in the year if he is to keep his place.

Best stat…
2- These two sides have been drawn together twice, with the Potters progressing on both occasions (1989 and 2013), with the most recent encounter going to a replay.

Remember when…
Chung-Yong Lee scored a late stunner to give Palace the three points. Both sides converted penalties, with Wickham scoring his first Palace goal and Bojan equalising after a Damien Delaney handball. The game was fairly even and looked set to be a draw, until the South Korean international fired in his goal with two minutes left on the clock.

Player to watch…
Wilfred Zaha: The talented winger will need to put in a good performance for the home team as Bolasie, Gayle and Sako are all doubtful for the game. Palace have struggled to score goals of late and have looked to Emmanuel Adebayor to ease that burden, but the Togo international is also a doubt for the FA cup game. On his day, Zaha can be a handful for any fullback in the league. He’s quick, strong and has a bag of tricks. Zaha will need to prove his quality in attack  to stop Palace losing their fourth game in a row.

Past three-meetings…
Stoke 1 Crystal Palace 2, Premier League, December 2015; Stoke 1 Crystal Palace 2, Premier League, March 2015; Crystal Palace 1 Stoke 1, Premier League, December 2014

Form guide…
Crystal Palace: DLWLLL
Stoke: WWWDLL

Vital information…
Kick-off time: 3.00pm
TV: Highlights on BBC1